


Good luck? I met him once...

by CinderSky98



Category: RWBY
Genre: Blood and Gore, Canon Compliant, Dissociation, Heavy Angst, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Implied/Referenced Suicide attempt, M/M, Post V7C12, RWBY Volume 7 Spoilers, References to Depression, Stream of Consciousness, Suicidal Thoughts, Unreliable Narrator
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-28
Updated: 2020-02-28
Packaged: 2021-02-27 20:15:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,138
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22931611
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CinderSky98/pseuds/CinderSky98
Summary: ***Post V7C12 "With Friends Like These"***///Qrow blames himself for Clover's death.""Someone had to take the fall.""James will take the fall. I'll make sure of it.""...Good luck."
Relationships: Qrow Branwen/Clover Ebi
Comments: 4
Kudos: 40





	Good luck? I met him once...

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fic I'm posting here on AO3! It's a post V7C12 angst fest, so if you don't want to read that... don't read this. Read the tags for trigger warnings, and PLEASE let me know if I missed anything!

"Someone had to take the fall."

" _James_ will take the fall. I'll make sure of it."

"...Good luck."

\---

Qrow screamed. The pain ripping his chest apart tore out through his throat in a desperate attempt to escape his body.

Clover was dead.

He was dead and it was Qrow's fault.

Not that it should surprise him. It was always his fault. This was what happened when he got to close to anything.

He should have known better.

He should have done something.

_Anything!_

There was no escape.

There never was.

The scream died as quickly as it had come, the silence of the tundra seemed to hiss at him, angry at the disruption.

The red slowly continued to spread through the snow. A violent, bleeding gash on which the body of the most beautiful man lay.

….It was his blood. It was everywhere. It filled Qrow's vision, smearing the brutal reality of what had just happened across the snow.

Reality was blurring. The body in front of him was out of focus.

_“Your fault your fault your fault”_

His head was screaming.

He had killed Clover.

Maybe Tyrian had pushed the blade ( _Qrow's blade)_ through his chest… but that didn’t matter. Nothing mattered.

Red was everywhere. His scythe, the snow, his hands.

 _“How appropriate.”_ Qrow laughed almost hysterically. The blood was on his hands. By simply existing, he had destroyed everything. It was just that. Simple. It was his fault.

He moved forward slowly and tried to pick up Clover's badge. His hands were shaking. Qrow felt the world continue to unwind around his head as the image of Clover dying filled his vision.

_“Not moving. Dead. He's dead. He’ll never breath again.”_

The physical sensation of being stabbed ( _the same as Clover)_ was receding. He gazed at his hands, dazed. We’re they even his hands…? He couldn’t tell. He couldn’t be sure.

Qrow was vaguely aware of his whole body now shuddering in the frigid air. It all felt disconnected. Unreal.

_“It’s all your fault.”_

That one thought broke through the haze with shocking clarity. Finally regaining control of his hands, he slowly picked up Clover's blood soaked pin, holding it gingerly.

The warmth he had felt in Clover's presence was gone now, replaced with the stone cold emptiness. A howling void. The ice trapping his feelings started cracking again. He wanted to keep screaming. Somewhere behind him he heard the muffled sound of an airship again. It was distorted, nearly beyond recognition.

Everything passed in an unidentifiable blur. Qrow didn’t remember getting on the transport, being bound, or Robyn being placed next to him. He thought he heard her say his name, but he couldn't hear her. All he could hear was Clover.

_“Lucky you.”_

With the wink that followed? He had never fallen in love so quickly.

Words echoed through his head. The encouragement. The belief. Clover had believed in Qrow. More than anyone ever had since… Summer.

God, how Qrow hated himself.

He unclenched his hands, looking down at the pin. He was surprised that no one had taken it from him. They might not have even realized he was holding it.

Qrow suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder. It was Robyn's hand. He couldn’t find it on him to shrug her away, though everything in his body screamed that it was wrong. No one should be touching him. He was a monster, after all. All Qrow could see was the cord binding his wrists together. Clover had arrested him in Mantle. That was how they’d met. Qrow closed his hands around the pin again, trying desperately to keep them from shaking as he stared at his restraints.

Qrow had hardly known him. They had just barely met.

Memories continued to flash through his minds eye, but they had strayed from Clover.

_The bandit camp glaring at him after a failed raid._

_Raven, pressing a cloth against his wrist, telling him to pull himself together, to stop being so weak._

_Tai, with a broken aura after a cliff face crumbled on top of him._

_His argument with Summer… before she… before..._

He felt his tears on his cheek, and realized that he’d started crying again. Robyn removed her hand, and he couldn’t bring himself to care about what she was doing.

_His parents, his tribe, Raven. Summer. Tai. Clover._

All the faces of everyone he'd ever loved and lost flashed through his mind. Everything he loved. Everything he touched. He lost it all. In different ways… but all lost, all the same.

_“It’s your fault, it’s all your fault, it’s ALWAYS your fault.”_

_“I know.”_

A single memory rose to the surface of the cacophony in his brain. Summer. She'd had her arm hooked on his as she leaned against him, cold fingers resting painfully close to the hidden scar on his wrist as she’d traced the veins in the back of his hand.

_"It’s better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all."_

He couldn't remember what they had been talking about. He may never remember what had prompted her to say that.

But she had been wrong.

Because this hurt _so fucking much._

He could end it. End all of the pain… never hurt anyone ever again.

It was tempting. A way out… he wanted a way out. Anything. It didn’t matter anymore. It would hardly be a challenge to convince one of the guards to shoot him. With his aura as damaged as it was, some concentration, and a little bit of luck ( _heh, luck)_ it might even be fatal.

His brain laid out a pattern in his head, structuring a way to achieve his demise.

Why shouldn't he? What did he have to lose?

_Ruby and Yang._

His thoughts stalled on his nieces. Could he leave them like that?

 _They’re better off without you_.

They were, weren’t they?

It’s not like they would miss him. They were off saving the world. He was just… tagging along. They would be fine. Better than fine. He had nothing of value to offer to anyone.

But Qrow... couldn't leave them. It was selfish. Terribly selfish. He was only a danger to them. That’s all he ever could be. Existence was selfish.

He wanted to die. He didn’t deserve something that he wanted. Even if it was the _right thing to do._

Qrow felt like the pain of losing Clover was suffocating him, but he couldn't stop. Not yet. Soon… but not yet.

He had things to do. Nieces to protect. A general to fight. A serial killer to murder… Maybe after that... then...

He was so tired…

…

First things first. He needed to get out of here. He looked at Robyn. She met his gaze. Something like understanding passed between them.

Qrow sighed.

He really needed a drink.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading!! Please give me any feedback you can!! I would love to know what you liked!! Constructive criticism is always welcome! How do you think Qrow is going to move on from this?


End file.
